Oral Answers to Questions

Julian Lewis Excerpts

Monday 15th December 2025 Commons Chamber

[Al Carns]

This Government are not hollowing out defence or taking a dig at defence procurement. This Government are increasing morale, increasing recruitment and, importantly, making defence an engine for growth by investing in SMEs all over the country, with new cutting-edge technology and technological capability that will be battle-winning in the long term.

[Sir Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

Having sat through the debate on Ukraine on 4 December, has the Minister taken on board the important message for our NATO colleagues that if there is a forced division of Ukraine, just as there was of occupied Germany at the end of the war, it will be essential that unoccupied western Ukraine is fully manned with deterrent allied troops? Nothing could be more destabilising than a vacuum in western Ukraine, with a heavily militarised occupied eastern Ukraine under the control of the killer in the Kremlin.

[Al Carns]

I thank the right hon. Member for his insight and support for all things defence. We must ensure that Ukraine is at the very centre of any negotiation, and this Government have been leading not only on the coalition of the willing but also across the Ukraine defence contact group. Just recently we raised €50 billion in support of Ukraine. If the Ukrainians negotiate a peace, the UK will fully support that peace through multiple different vectors.

--- Later in debate ---

[Luke Pollard]

We are working with the Northern Ireland Executive on the Northern Ireland growth deal—one of five growth deals that will share £250 million to look at skills and at how we can attract more inward investment. When that concludes, I would be very happy to give a briefing to the hon. Gentleman and other Northern Ireland colleagues on the progress that we are making.

[Sir Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

I welcome the Government’s commitment ultimately to spend 5% of GDP on defence—as we used to do in the cold war years of the 1980s—but not the target date of 2035. Do the Government really believe that there is no threat of attack from Russia on a NATO country for the next 10 years?

[John Healey]

Of course there are rising threats, which is why we have a rising defence budget over the next 10 years. The 2035 commitment that we have made is shared with all other 31 NATO nations.